CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS

When Meg Whitman was CEO of eBay she was given what I call stock "bribes" from Goldman Sachs. I think the IPO stocks she received were a bribe. Believe me, no one gives a CEO a sure chance to make $1.8 million without expecting something in return. Just because something was not yet illegal, does not make it ethical. No wonder she will not release her tax returns.

During Carly Fiona's time as HP CEO there was an extremely troubling incident where HP illegally accessed the personal phone records of all of the members of its Board of Directors. It is a little to Nixonian for me.

PROP 13 -- This proposition encourages earthquake retrofitting of old buildings.

PROP 14 -- Changes primary election so the top two candidates go on to the general election. BAD IDEA to do this statewide. Perhaps an experiment on this could be done, having one house of the state legislature elected in this fashion for two elections, then see the effect. VOTE NO ON THIS ONE. Let them rewrite it to limit its effect so we can evaluate whether or not it will work on a small scale before we go statewide with an experiment that MAY MAKE THINGS WORSE.

PROP 15 -- GOOD IDEA, limited in scope. Well worth trying.

PROP 16 --NO ON THIS ONE. EVERY TIME, we vote to increase the number of votes needed to vote something into law, we create a long term BAD SITUATION. You may not realize that your favorite tax law, the old Prop 13, has made residential property owners pay a MUCH larger portion of the overall property taxes. IN OTHER WORDS, rich corporations pay a smaller percentage of property tax than the poor citizens who bought an overpriced home.

PROP 17 -- A change in the insurance law, wanted by insurance companies. I ALWAYS vote NO if an insurance company says something is good for me. They do not seem to have MY best interests in mind when they propose laws.